OREANDA-NEWS. May 10, 2012. Deutsche Telekom is pushing its partnering campaign and increasingly relies on new, creative ideas from startups alongside its own innovations: in order to support young companies in their early stages, in particular, Telekom has today launched hub:raum, its own incubator program in Berlin, at NEXT conference.

hub:raum opens up access to an experienced group of experts for ambitious start-up teams who receive specific support in an environment where they can further develop business ideas and bring them to market with the best possible chances of success - similar to an incubator.

The program allows start-ups to benefit from Deutsche Telekom's size and reach, as well as from the know-how of its experts who support the core team made up of Dr. Min-Kin Mak and Peter Borchers. At the same time, they maintain their entrepreneurial independence. Start-ups are provided with exhaustive support from knowledgeable mentors who can share their experiences of establishing their own successful companies. Deutsche Telekom also offers comprehensive seed funding of up to 300,000 euros.

“With hub:raum, our incubator in Berlin, we wish to promote promising business ideas and establish contact with innovative talent so as to recognize innovations and growth markets and tap into new business fields early on. The incubator represents an important interface between the flexibly and highly responsive startup scene and the corporate world,” explained Thomas Kiessling, Chief Product & Innovation Officer at Telekom.

Interested startups can apply right away to participate in the program by visiting www.hubraum.telekom.com. Approximately ten to fifteen startups are to be included each year. Deutsche Telekom has well-known expert mentors on board including alando co-founder and managing director of eBay Deutschland for many years, Jorg Rheinboldt.